Astute-class Submarines

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the adaptability of Astute-class submarines for carrying a nuclear missile system.

John Reid: holding answer 13 October 2005
	As my predecessor made clear previously on 30 June 2004, Official Report, column 318W, work has been undertaken to keep options open in considering platforms to carry the Trident D5 missile in the longer term pending future decisions on any replacement for Trident. However, while decisions on any replacement for the Trident system are likely to be required in the current Parliament, they are still some way off and Ministers have not yet begun to consider the position on this issue in any detail. It is therefore too early to speculate on the merits of any particular option.

Mobile Phones

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people in London who had a mobile phone in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell to Sarah Teather, dated 14 October 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question regarding information on mobile phone ownership in London since 1997. (16910)
	Data for household ownership of mobile phones are presented in the table. Figures for individual ownership of mobile phones are not available from National Statistics.
	Table 1 shows the number of London households in which one or more household members owned at least one mobile phone between 1997–98 and 200304, the most recently available figure. Table 2, shows the proportion of households in London with at least one mobile phone over the same time frame.
	
		Table 1: Number of households with at least one mobile telephone 1997–98 to 2003–04 Thousand
		
			 London  
		
		
			 1997–98 791 
			 1998–99 1,060 
			 1999–2000 1,655 
			 (1)2001–02 1,775 
			 2002–03 1,928 
			 2003–04 2,242 
		
	
	(1) A figure for 2000–01 has been omitted because of concerns that it may not provide an accurate estimate of mobile phone ownership.
	Source:
	Family Expenditure Survey end Expenditure and Food Survey, Office for National Statistics.
	
		Table 2: Percentage of households with at least one mobile telephone, 1997–98 to 2003–04 Percentage
		
			 London  
		
		
			 1997–88 27 
			 1998–99 35 
			 1999–2000 53 
			 (2)2001–02 62 
			 2002–03 68 
			 2003–04 78 
		
	
	(2) A figure for 2000–01 has been omitted because of concerns that it may not provide an accurate estimate of mobile phone ownership.
	Source:
	Family Expenditure and Food Survey, Office for National Statistics.
	Like all estimates from sample surveys the figures presented are subject to sampling variability. This is greater for sub-groups of the population than for national estimates.